from the urls-we-dig-up dept

The number of zombie apocalypse movies has been growing over the last few years, introducing "fast-moving" zombies and new kinds of swarming behaviors for the undead. The causes of the zombie apocalypse range from viral to supernatural, but the general awareness of biotechnology's ability to create monsters is undeniable. Meanwhile, Mother Nature herself is creating her own deadly diseases (ahem, ebola) and is making them more difficult to eradicate. Here are just a few observations of evolution that we can hopefully learn from and use to prevent an extinction event.

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Diamonds are a fascinating and unique material. So far, though, manufacturing large diamonds on a large scale isn't very economical, but there actually are a few processes that do make small, commercial synthetic diamonds. If cheap diamonds could be made to arbitrary dimensions, then all sorts of "Diamond Age" technologies could make things more durable or significantly better. (eg. Diamonds could replace silicon as a semiconducting substrate in electronics, and diamond touchscreens would be pretty scratch resistant.) Here are a few uses of diamonds that could provide a bit more value than gemstones.

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Biotechnology takes time to grow and develop new stuff, but every so often, there's a big leap. And then it still takes time to verify results and perform rigorous double blind medical studies. Science fiction and CSI TV shows make it seem like we'll be re-growing body parts and curing every disease before the next commercial break. Unfortunately, biology rarely moves that fast. Here are just a few cool biotech projects that won't be available at your local drug store anytime soon, but these sci-fi-sounding projects are closer to reality now.

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Life has existed on the Earth for a pretty long time, perhaps longer than you might imagine. Biology seems pretty resilient, though, there have been five major mass extinctions (the last of the five killed off the dinosaurs) -- and at least 20 total mass extinction events over the last half billion years or so. Maybe we're working on the sixth major extinction event by messing around with nuclear weapons or the Large Hadron Collider. Or perhaps we'll bring back something from the past that we'll regret. Here are a few of examples of ancient organisms that we might not want to revive.

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It turns out that many Americans aren't paying much attention to the ongoing battle over labeling genetically modified foods. A recent survey by researchers at Rutgers University found that half of Americans know very little or nothing at all about GM foods, while a quarter have never even heard of them. Furthermore, they found that many Americans are also confused about what types of GM foods are on the market. Meanwhile, heirloom fruits, vegetables, and grains are gaining popularity. These are plants that have been grown and passed down from one generation to another -- some for more than 100 years -- often selected for their superior flavor, as well as other characteristics such as productivity, hardiness, and adaptability. If you want to avoid GM foods, why not spend some time rediscovering heirloom varieties? Here are a few links to get you started.

from the keep-'em-coming dept

Back in June, Mike wrote about the important Myriad Genetics judgment from the Supreme Court, which said that naturally-occuring genetic material could not be patented. However, because of some hedging from the judges, there were concerns about how much this would block gene patents in practice. Last week we had an indication that the impact is indeed likely to be significant, as VentureBeat reports:

a District Court judge in California upheld the landmark [SCOTUS] ruling, and struck down a patent held by a San Diego-based diagnostics company called Sequenom. Sequenom offers a non-invasive genetic test for Down's Syndrome, which pregnant women can take as early as 10 weeks.

Sequenom plans to appeal the decision to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals. It was highly unexpected, and has caused shockwaves of disbelief in the scientific community. The judge, Susan Illston of the United States District Court in Northern California, ruled against Sequenom after a summary judgement, citing the Supreme Court case "Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc., 12-398."

In both cases, the judge ruled that a "natural phenomenon" could not be patented.

If this decision stands, "I don’t see how you can maintain a genetic diagnostic claim anymore," says Christopher Holman, a molecular biologist and professor of law at the University of Missouri, Kansas City.

However, that does not mean that biotech is now an area that will be abandoned by investors. As the VentureBeat story notes:

Bryan Roberts, a health-focused investment partner at Venrock, predicts that "real innovation will be patentable and rewarded" while patents on natural phenomena will not. Roberts is a leading investor in Ariosa Diagnostics, the San Jose, Calif. based company that filed suit against Sequenom in 2011.

That connection means that Roberts may be biased in his view of this particular case, but his broader analysis of the ruling's impact remains true:

The ruling "raises the bar to rely on intellectual property as a business defense," said Roberts. "It will drive prices down [and support] the product that is both high quality and efficiently priced."

What makes this latest judgement (embedded below) particularly welcome is that it joins the Myriad Genetics decision, and an earlier SCOTUS ruling that struck down a patent on basic medical diagnostics, to form part of a growing body of US case law that brings some much-needed sanity to the world of gene patents.

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Radiolab had a fascinating episode on famous tumors that aired recently (again). Cancer is usually a pretty grim topic, but there are some incredibly interesting facets of cancer if you can forget about its lethal nature. If you haven't known anyone who has battled cancer, consider yourself lucky. But cancer is a leading cause of death, so it may be unavoidable to encounter this disease at some point in your life. In the meantime, here are just a few tidbits about tumors that you might not have seen.

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Biology has inspired artists and scientists and engineers to create all kinds of things from velcro to still life paintings. Living organisms have a seemingly endless supply of tricks up their sleeves, so why not try to use some biological mechanisms to do our bidding? Scientists can already re-create some biology by growing organs that could be used for transplants and by creating an (almost) completely synthetic cell based on a bacterium that normally infects goats (search for J. Craig Venter). Synthetic biology still has a long way to go, but it's a field that is maturing quickly. Here are just a few links on this fast-growing biotechnology.

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Biology has already figured out how to capture and use solar energy, so it makes some sense that we could try to re-purpose natural mechanisms to do our bidding and fulfill our energy needs. The trick is doing it on a scale that works economically. Plenty of scientists are working on ways to produce biofuels, but so far, the amount of biofuel used commercially is a rounding error compared to the volume of petroleum products that is burned. Still, here are just a few examples of biofuels that could be promising alternatives to burning dinosaur remains.

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

There's an Isaac Asimov quote: "If my doctor told me I had only six minutes to live, I wouldn't brood. I'd type a little faster." But if there really were accurate predictions for a person's lifespan, how would people change? Maybe medical science is on the verge of creating a pharmaceutical solution for a fountain of youth. We seem to be a long way from a cure for death, but at least a few people think immortality will be available to humanity (eg. Aubrey de Grey, Ray Kurzweil, etc.) in the next few decades. Here are a few links to the study of aging and its causes.